Slide fastener



. 8, 1936. s; H, NORTON SLIDE FASTENER Filed Nov. 21, 1954 IN V EN TOR. Samuel l H Npron Patented Dec. 8, 1936 PATIaIJrv OFFICE 2,063,879 sLmE FAsTENEa sinm'uel4 n. Norton, Meadville, ra., signor to Hookless Fastener Company,

a corporation of Application November 21, 193'4, Serial No. 754,098

5 Claims.

My invention relates to slide fasteners and particularly to an improved top stop device for such fasteners.

In applications of slide fasteners to closed end slits, such as in bags, the side plackets of dresses, and the like, it is desirable that the edges of the material bordering the opening be brought neatly together at the ends of the opening. However,

with the usual pair of top stops provided on slide fasteners, the holding together of the material edges at that end of the opening will cause the top stops to bind inside the slider and make it impossible to move the slider by the usual pull on the pull tab. Furthermore, it is difficult to hold the material edgesneatly together at the end of the opening.

'Ihe object of my invention is to provide a sin` gle top stop member which will avoid sticking of the slider at the end of the opening, and which at the same time, will hold the material edges in neatly closed relation beyond the end of the Opening.

Further objects of my invention are to pro- -vide a top stop of the above character which will be cheap to manufacture, andwhich will have a powerful grip on the edges of the material to which it is attached, and which will be inherently being bent under heavy I have shown my invention in association with,

a slide fastener of a conventional type having interlocking fastener elements 5, arranged on the beaded edges 6 of material 1 bordering the opening which is to be closed. A slider 8 is moved along the fastener elements by a pull tab 9 to to open and close the fastener.

The slider has an interior channel I0, which has a pair of diverging outlets Il at one end spaced laterally by a neck I2, said channel serving as exits for the fastener elements when the slider` is moved in the direction to open the fastener. When the slider is at the end of the opening, as shown in Fig. 1, the beaded 'edges 6 are bent into an arch shape so as to provide inclined gripping portions I4, I5 adapted to grip substantial lengths of the beaded edges 6 on opposite sides of the opening. By reason of the inclination of the gripping ends of the arch shaped member, the beaded edges are held in properly spaced relation at the end of the opening and are brought inwardly in a neat, close-together position beyond the end of the opening. Of course, the extensions I6 of the flexible material beyond the end of the opening may be doubled over next to the top stop or even cut oli fairly close to the top stop, but in any case there is no gap left beyond the top stop.

By reasonof the channel shaped section of the stop member, it is exceedingly resistant to all bending stresses and has'a powerful gripping eiect'on the beaded edges. It will be observed that this form of stop device provides an assembly which will prevent sticking of the slider at the end of its movement because the opposite edges of the material bordering the opening are rigidly held in properly spaced relation.

While I have shown and described in this apl plication, one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice, it will be undersood that this embodiment is merely for the purposes of illustration and description, and that various other forms may be devised within the scope of my invention as described in the appended claims.

.What I claim as myinvention is:

1. In combination, interlocking fastener elements arranged on the opposite edges of material bordering an opening', a slider movable longitudinally on said elements for engaging and disengaging same, said slider having an interior channel with diverging outlets at one end spaced laterally from one another, a'one-piece stop device bridging the end of the opening that is opposed to said one end of the slider, said stop device having means for holding the edges of said material in substantially the same spaced relation as said outlets on one side of the stop device, and substantially closer together on the other side.

2. In combination, interlocking fastener elements arranged on the opposite edges of material bordering an opening, a slider movable longitudinally on said elements for engaging and disengaging the same, said slider having at one end a pair of diverging outlets spaced laterally from one another and serving as exits for the fastener elements on thetwo sides, a bridging top stop member comprising a single rigid piece of material extending across the opening at the end of the opening that is opposed to said one end of the slider, said stop member having means for holding said material edges in substantially the same spaced relation as when they emerge from said outlets, said stop member alsohaving means for bringing together in closely spaced relation the extensions of said material edges beyond said opening.

3. A slide fastener comprising strips of material on opposite sides oi' an opening to be closed, said strips having beaded edges bordering said opening, interlocking fastener elements secured to`said beaded edges, a slider movable along said elements for engaging and disengaging the same, said slider-having at one end a pair of spaced outlets from which the fastener elements emerge when the fastener is being opened, and a top stop for the slider comprising a rigid piece of material connecting said strips at the end of said opening that is opposed to said double outlet end of the slider, said stop member having gripping means embracing substantial lengths of said beaded edges, said gripping means being inclined inwardly relative to the longitudinal line of the fastener so as to hold said beaded edges in spaced relation at the end of the opening, and in closely adjacent relation beyond the end of the opening.

4. A bridging top stop member for slide fasteners comprising a single rigid piece of sheet metal of continuous tubular cross-section bent into an arch shape so as to provide inclined gripping portions I4, I5 adapted to grip substantial lengths of the beaded edges of the opposed stringers at one end of the fastener. f

5. In combination, interlocking fastener elements arranged on the opposite edges of material bordering an opening, a slider movable longitudinally on said elements for engaging and disengaging same, said slider having an interior channel with diverging outlets at one end spaced laterally from one another, a one-piece stop device bridging the end of the opening that is opposed to said one end of the slider, said stop device having means for holding the edges of the material spaced apart on that side of the stop device adjacent the slider, and substantially closer together on the other side of the stop device.

SAMUEL H. NORTON. 

